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Review: BB Seaweed Lush Fresh Face Mask

BB Seaweed (£7.25 for the 75g pot or free when you return five black or clear pots) is one of Lush‘s older masks. I’m not sure if it’s one of the originals but it was definitely there when I started buying Lush in late 2008 so it’s been around a while. I have tried it quite a few times over the years and it’s one I keep going back to. It’s a clay based mask that you use after cleansing your face and leave on to dry for five to ten minutes before washing off. It does make quite a mess, as any clay based ones seem to, but it does seem to work for me.

As the name suggests one of the main skin benefitting ingredients is seaweed and it’s this ingredient that seems to make this the face mask that’s varied the most batch to batch both in thickness and scent compared to other Lush Fresh Face Masks. As it’s fresh seaweed I would guess individual plants, weather, age and probably other influences can change the strength and consistency of the plants.

I like the Lush pots, though they aren’t the most fashionable looking pots out there I like the black and white look and think they can look nice out on the side in the bathroom though these Fresh Face Masks do need to be kept in the fridge. They’re also great for reusing as they have a good seal and these smaller pots are good for travelling for smaller amounts of moisturiser or body butter. Also when you have five then you can take them back to a store and get a free face mask, that’s how I got this one.

The mask itself does vary from batch to batch but it’s a pretty thick consistency which can mean it doesn’t have many uses in one pot. With this pot it did four face masks, I did add some water just for the last one to make it spread easier, and I’ve found most pots do four to six masks. As they are fresh, though, they do need to be kept in the fridge and a lot of them do go mouldy before I can use them up. I have found that freezing them in teaspoon portions works well. Though this particular pot of BB Seaweed was still fresh enough to use weeks after I bought it and first opened it.

All Lush face masks do have fairly strong scents but I think most with fresh ingredients do, other companies with similar ingredients do too. BB Seaweed has a light, slightly floral and green scent to me with the clay base scent. There have been batches I’ve bought in the past that had a more seaside scent but they seem to be ones with bigger pieces of seaweed in there. The seaweed pieces are sometimes quite big and I find it’s best to pick those out before I use the face mask as otherwise they fall off my face as the mask dries and becomes less sticky.

Honey, kaolin, aloe vera, rose absolute and seaweed are the main ingredients, or the ones for your skin anyway. These are calming and moisturising and it isn’t overly aimed at any particular skin problem, it’s a nice relaxing mask for any skin types.
I guess it might help with reviewing a face mask to tell you what my skin type is. It’s changed the past year or so but is still dry, acne prone and sensitive. I find that this face mask actually keeps my skin noticeably moisturised for days afterwards without causing outbreaks. It doesn’t particularly calm my skin beyond the first few hours up to a day so if you want it to have that effect for an occasion I would suggest doing it earlier in the day of the event.

There are slightly exfoliating pieces in this mask, though it’s a very fine grit and I don’t find it too much for my face like some face scrubs but I’d say if you do have skin sensitive to these things try it out on your hand first. I know I can tell if my face can take a scrub by trying it on the back of my hand.

You can see how much it has dried out since I first opened it

I think BB Seaweed is a pretty good face mask to try as a first Lush face mask if you don’t mind the scent. It does seem to be one that some people really don’t like scent wise though so it’s one to see in person first. It is nice and relaxing and quite cooling on your skin when you’re using it and I do find the moisturising benefits carry on for a few days so if you have dry skin it might help with that. As it doesn’t seem to have any very strong ingredients I think it really is one suitable for all skin types and just a nice, calming face mask to relax with.

It’s one of those that makes your skin feel nice but I don’t get any major benefits besides the moisturising and slightly soothing effect. I’d say rosy cheeks is similar, I have a review planned for it next week actually. It says about redness but I’ve not found that benefit and it’s mainly the rose for mositurising and clay for cooling so it’s just like a very rose scented version if this to me but less long term moisturising than BB Seaweed. I think a lot depends on your skin type and how it reacts to things, some I’ve been recommended from lush in the past as great for my skin type really didn’t work for me.